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The World on Two WheelsThe World on Two Wheels
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After discovering the joys of cycling in 2002 I took a group of fellow riders to China in 2006. Since then we have gone on to complete something like 45 other overseas cycling and trekking adventures which have taken us all over the planet. Läs mer Melbourne, Australia
  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 54

    Round Two in the Brasserie Bout

    10 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Life in a rural French village takes on a simple cadence. Nothing happens in a hurry. Each slow day is punctuated by the twice daily walk to the boulangerie to collect the baguette(s) for the day's meals. Every time you pass another person on the street, you must greet them with the customary "Bonjour". The passing of each hour is acknowledged by the chiming of the church bell. All around you, the process of decay is working inexorably to ensure that all the buildings are steadily working their way towards inevitable oblivion. This does not seem to worry anyone one bit.

    Yesterday we decided to embrace another village custom by visiting the local brasserie (bar) to enjoy a cup of coffee. It turned out to be an interesting, but not very pleasant experience. The guy behind the bar would rate as the most unfriendly Frenchman I have ever had the misfortune to meet. When we tried to order our drinks, we were met by a grunt and a shake of the head. It was very obvious that we were not welcome.

    But today was a brand new day. We decided to give the guy another chance to redeem himself. Equipped with our very best smiles, Maggie and I entered the bar and ordered one hot chocolate and one coffee. It couldn't be simpler. Our order was met with another grunt. Not a promising sign.

    He turned his back and fiddled with the machine, eventually handing me a half filled cup of tepid "hot" chocolate. There was about as much drink as would fill a small egg cup. It was not a good start. Maggie fared a little better, getting about 3/4 of a cup of coffee.

    I looked around the room and noticed that he had some chocolate croissants in a basket. Thinking that it might cheer him up if I added to my purchase I timidly asked for a "Pain chocolate, s'il vous plait". He looked at me in disgust and grunted, (I am not joking, that was exactly what he did).
    I repeated my request, only to be met by an even ruder grunt. If I was going to get my chocolate croissant, I would have to get it myself. So that is what I did. I walked across the room and picked one out of his basket.

    When I sat down outside to drink the diminutive hot chocolate and eat the croissant, I realised that I had made yet another mistake - the croissant was dry and stale. It did help me reach another decision. For the remainder of our time in Vermenton, I would never enter that terrible place again.

    Fortunately, there is another Cafe in the town, so that is where we will go tomorrow.

    Later in the day Maggie and I enjoyed another lovely walk alongside the river and through the Patrice Gay Boulodrome. The afternoon sun made the walk quite warm, and we were glad when we reached the comparative coolness of the millhouse.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 53

    Hot Times in a French Village

    9 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    When we arrived in the little village of Vermenton on Saturday, we had no idea what the place was like. We even got a little lost on the walk from the station to Le Moulinot, so that we found ourselves in the grounds of another mill house. To our horror that one was completely derelict. I know that sometimes photos can be flattering, but this was ridiculous.

    Fortunately we realised our mistake and managed to locate the correct place. Now, after just two nights in our lodging, the place is really starting to feel familiar. We can navigate to the two most important places in the town (the supermarket and the even more important boulangerie), without getting lost at all.

    We awoke to another perfectly clear morning. Although the night had been cool, the forecast was for a quite hot day, with a top temperature of nearly 30C. After breakfast, we walked back to the boulangerie for cakes and baguettes. We also noticed that the brasserie was open. That was reason for some excitement.

    When we were staying in Caumont four years ago, a simple highlight of each day was an early morning walk, followed by a coffee and pain chocolate in the village square. We thought we could repeat this routine here.

    Unfortunately the reception we received as we walked into the door of the brasserie was decidedly cool. Icy in fact. We struggled to order our drinks, but this only seemed to exasperate the proprietor. He scribbled down something on a piece of paper, then screwed it up and threw it aside in disgust.

    When the drinks arrived, they were actually quite good, but the poor attitude of the owner had spoilt the moment. It was really quite an uncomfortable place to be, and we decided that we probably would not be returning there any time soon.

    The remainder of the day was spent resting and exploring the walking paths near the mill house. This is an exceptionally beautiful location, although a lot of the infrastructure is in need of major repairs. Not far from the house is a complex of 24 petanque courts. Unfortunately, they were all in a very poor state of repair.

    I guess the problem of maintenance in a country which must have hundreds of thousands of buildings and other structures over 200 years old, is never ending.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 52

    Sunday in Vermenton

    8 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today was our first full day in this beautiful little town. So how did we spend the first morning ? Mostly sleeping.

    After the non stop schedule of the past 7 weeks, it was a strange feeling to have absolutely no imperative to do anything. Well there was one thing we had to do - get food and provisions.

    We all slept in until the ungodly hour of around 8 am, and then slowly emerged from our rooms. The night was wonderfully peaceful and quiet, and the cool night air coming in our bedroom window allowed us to sleep deeply.

    Without any food, breakfast was skipped. Instead we all formed a walking peloton and walked (strolled) to the supermarket. I had been expecting it to be small and limited in range. I was wrong. It was huge and well stocked, causing our eyes to bulge with greed.

    About 30 minutes later we were staggering back to the Moulinot with bulging grocery bags. At least we would not be missing out on lunch.

    The other important task was to tackle the mountain of dirty laundry which was steadily taking over my luggage. The little washing machine did its best to convert this into a more respectable state, and the warm weather also played its part in helping to get the washing dry.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 51

    The Vermenton Mill House

    7 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    After the incredible 8 course dinner (or was it 9 ?) we had last night, I was rather sad to be leaving Joigny. In the short time we had spent at Le Rive Gauche Hotel, we had all fallen a little in love with the place. The town is situated in an idyllic location on the serene Yonne River, and the centre of the old city was very inviting.

    Maggie and I decided to spend our last few hours in this city walking to the market. Although it was quite large, the range of goods was very similar to those peddled in just about every other market around the world - cheap clothes, handbags, Chinese toys and other so called "handicrafts".

    We had also hoped to find somewhere selling SIM cards for my mobile phone, but the combination of poor language skills and unhelpful staff made this an impossible task.

    Back at the hotel we checked out and waited outside for the taxi that had been ordered to take Maggie and Carol to the station. The rest of us formed a walking peloton and walked the one and a half kilometres. Somehow we managed to arrive about 90 minutes early, and had a long wait in the sun for the train to arrive.

    Fortunately the train was not very busy, and we only had to make it as far at the next station, where we would transfer to a bus instead. The train part went smoothly enough, but when we climbed off at the platform, we were met by utter chaos.

    There was a huge throng of people, all trying to clamber down the stairs to reach the connecting buses. I can never understand why a country that can build such incredible railways, cannot spend a few extra dollars to install more lifts and/or escalators in their stations.

    Since Maggie was incapable of handling her luggage, due to her bad back, I was struggling to manhandle all our luggage by myself. Just at the moment I was about to panic, I was assisted by a friendly stranger who grabbed the back end of one of the cases and helped me down the stairs. It really was hugely appreciated.

    When we found the buses, the chaos grew even worse. People were climbing on and off buses in seemingly random fashion. The SNCF railway even had three armed officers to oversee the mess (the officers did not have three arms, I mean they were carrying weapons).

    it was starting to look like we would be standing up in the bus for the 60 minute journey to Vermenton, but somehow it all came good in the end as it mostly does. When we finally stumbled onto the correct bus, we found that it had plenty of seats, and it was nicely air conditioned.

    About 70 minutes we arrived at Vermenton Station and were met by a guy who had been arranged to transfer our luggage to La Moulinette. The rest of us would be walking.

    We have booked into this converted Mill House for the next 7 days, and are so looking forward to having almost nothing to do for that time, apart from rest, read and eat. Greg and Andrea had stayed in this very location 17 years ago, and had recommended it to us.

    It did not take long for us to decide that the place was ideal. The location is as serene as you could imagine, and the ivy-covered exterior was picture perfect.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 50

    We Arrive at Joigny

    6 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    A few hours ago, our final group of 8 riders completed their ride along the Nivernais Canal and Yonne River, arriving at the beautiful historic city of Joigny. It was a perfect, fairytale ending to an incredible 7 weeks of riding in Europe. How privileged we have been to have been able to share such an adventure together.

    Following the success of the previous day's picnic, we all decided to buy sandwiches for another picnic lunch. While the women stayed at the hotel, the men joined me while I led them to the Boulangerie. I promptly rode out of the hotel and turned left. The surroundings soon felt strangely alien. I came to the unpleasant realisation that I had led the group the wrong way.

    When Maggie and I had walked to the Boulangerie the previous day, we had left via the front entrance of the hotel. Today I had left via the rear entrance. That is why everything looked weird. I had to admit to the others that I had made a mistake, and then retreat to head off in the correct direction.

    The short ride to the Boulangerie took us past the city prison (complete with towering walls and barbed wire). We purchased the picnic ingredients and rode back to the hotel.

    “What took you so long ?”, was the immediate query from the waiting women. "I don't want to talk it", was my reply.

    We were soon heading out of Auxerre, feeling the full impact of the freezing cold air. Soon our fingers and ears were frozen, but it only added to the fun. The day was absolutely still and foreshadowed another perfect ride.

    Since our final ride was only short, we wanted to savour it for as long as possible. The pace dropped back to around 17 kph, and at times even lower.

    We were now riding along the Yonne. It is a beautiful river whose broad width contrasted with the narrow canal we had been following for the past three days.

    At around 10.30 am we deviated from the river in search of a coffee shop. The GPS indicated that there would be a suitable cafe in the centre of the town, but we were all skeptical of the odds of finding a nice coffee shop in such a deserted village.

    We needn't have worried. In spite of the odds, we found a marvelous place – large, modern and serving great coffee. It really was a tremendous surprise.

    A short distance further on, I spied a sign indicating a nearby “Pique Nique” location. It was only round the corner, but complete with lakeside views, tables and rubbish bin. It was also complete with two parked cars, which we first thought were empty, but then noticed there were two people laying down in the rear seat of one of the cars. We had obviously interrupted some sort of illicit liaison.
    It really was very funny. They probably thought they had found the perfect deserted spot for a romantic interlude, only to have their activities disturbed by 8 Australians on bicycles. They eventually emerged from the vehicle, rearranging their clothes and looking rather sheepish.

    The remainder of the ride was completed without incident. Once again, the early cold was replaced by beautiful warm sunshine.

    Whenever you reach the end of such a fantastic ride there are mixed feelings of relief and disappointment.

    Our final hotel in Joigny was Le Rive Gauche. It was a perfect place to finish an epic cycling adventure. The hotel was located in the middle of many acres of lawns, gardens, lakes, petanque and tennis courts. It looked like it had once been the palatial home of someone rich and famous.

    At the end of the day we shared a memorable dinner at the hotel. It was easily one of the best we had enjoyed in the entire trip. There were about 8 courses, all of which were impeccably prepared and presented. What a contrast to the debacle we had shared the previous evening.

    Tomorrow we make the journey to Vermenton, where we will have a week doing nothing but rest and eat. We have earned it.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 49

    Clamecy to Auxerre

    5 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    It was yet another freezing start to the day. We had enjoyed our picnic the previous day so much that we decided to do it again. Before starting the ride we went in search of a boulangerie to buy our lunches. This took us back into the old medieval part of Clamecy. This part of the city is a maze of narrow lanes and extremely old buildings.

    We found a tiny place that said they could make our sandwiches, but the only ingredients she had were cheese and ham. At least that narrowed down the decisions. I chose to have her make two ham and cheese sandwiches, but she informed me that the bread was still too warm to cut. We would have to wait a while. At least we would know the bread was fresh.

    She then disappeared out the front of the shop and went down a flight of stairs, leaving us to run the shop in her absence. And that is what we did.
    About 20 minutes later she reappeared with our sandwiches. I also bought a couple of cakes and some drinks, and finally we were ready to leave.

    Soon we were back on the canal, enjoying the serenity of the bitterly cold morning air. The surface of the riding trail was surprisingly good (actually it has been good for the entire length of the canal). It is amazing how this entire complex system of canals, locks and water control was designed over 250 years ago. Construction actually began way back in 1784 and took around 60 years to complete. What an incredible achievement in an age before computers, power machinery, aerial surveys and the like. All the work had to be done by hand.

    About 20 km into the ride we rode into a small village in search of coffee. By chance we happened to arrive on market day – the only day when anything happens in these villages. There were a few small stalls selling fruit, meat and second hand clothes. We were somewhat surprised to find the largest stall was selling beds and mattresses. I had not expected to find a Captain Snooze in such an unlikely place, and wondered how many locals would be loading up their trucks and tractors with brand new beds.

    I ordered two cappuccinos at the TABAC and was a little taken aback to be charged 10Euro (almost $20). I know that prices have increased since we were last in Europe, but this was canal side robbery. It was only when the two finished works came out that we could see why the charge was so high. It was obviously something the owner was very proud of, but it certainly wasn’t a cappuccino. Whatever it was, it was served in a glass and had multiple coloured layers, topped off with a huge serving of artificial cream and a big biscuit. I also had never had a cappuccino served with a drinking straw before. It was a rather memorable experience.

    A short distance later we found a lovely Aire de pique nique (picnic spot) where we could enjoy our baguettes while looking at a chateau perched high on a cliff on the other side of the canal. The sandwiches were delicious and the location magic.

    The remainder of the ride was equally enjoyable. The sun had driven away the remainder of the fog and the temperature became perfect for riding.

    At this stage of the ride the canal parallels the river Yonne, and they perform a complex, interwoven embrace complete with waterfalls (and of course lots of locks).

    At one location we made a chance discover of acres of bright pink cyclamen. They carpeted the area as far as we could see. It was one of the most beautiful sights you could imagine, but unfortunately the photos did not do it justice.

    Our destination for the day was the sizeable city of Auxerre. This also marks the finish of the Canal du Nivernais. Tomorrow our ride will conclude as we follow the Yonne to the smaller city of Joigny. That will also mark the conclusion of our 2023 Europe Ride.

    In the evening we went to Le Quais Restaurant, only a short 1 km walk from our hotel. What a strange experience. After the incredible service we had had at the previous evening, this one was everything that a restaurant should not be.

    The menu was extremely limited and, when we tried to change anything, the immediate response was to answer NO. It was only by direct plea to the boss that we finally made any headway. The message did not get through to the surly young waiter, who had the worst attitude problem I had seen in a long time. He obviously did not want to serve us and did everything possible to make us feel unwelcome. Food was almost slung on the table, wrong dishes were presented and numerous disagreements ensued between the staff and the boss. It really must be hard to get staff in this town, as otherwise any reasonable business would have given the young chap his marching orders.

    It was quite a funny spectacle as the unfolding drama played out. We never really knew what was going to happen next. It almost made me wonder if this was some sort of act that they performed each night to entertain the diners. The place was certainly full of people, so it must have been popular with the local. We even happened to meet an Australian couple from Canberra who were dining at the next table. They told an unlikely story of coming to Europe to meet the pope ! Maybe it was true.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 48

    Corbigny to Clamecy

    4 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    The day began with a very cold start at around 5C with widespread fog, but promises of a lovely day ahead.

    We all decided to buy baguette sandwiches for lunch from the boulangerie in Corbigny. These were carefully packed in our panniers for enjoying later.

    First couple of km out of town were a bit scary, until we reached the peace and safety of the Canal du Nivernais. We were soon battling freezing fingers and dripping noses, but the scenery along the canal made up for the hardship. The fog was slowly lifting as the cows in the paddocks peacefully lifted their heads to watch us pass them by.

    Yesterday we had a lot of km to cover, and therefore we were more concentrated on moving along than in savoring the beauty that was around us. Today we had plenty of time to thoroughly enjoy every part of the ride. The succession of old houses, deserted lock keepers' homes and quiet villages was absolutely what we have all come to love about France.

    The only thing missing was an open café selling hot drinks. The GPS led us to a couple of possibilities, but they were all shut. In one village we saw a very likely looking place, but, once again, the place was firmly shut. The sign on the window explained that the café was closed “for leave”.

    While we were feeling sorry for ourselves outside the locked café, a lady came from the house opposite and started chatting. She was carrying a rather bemused young child. The lady was obviously pleased to see us, in fact I suspected our arrival was the most exciting thing the village had seen for a long time. She was even more excited when Carol presented her with one of the small toy koalas she had brought from Australia.

    We eventually found a TABAC in Tannay. This necessitated a detour from the hotel, and the town was situated at the top of a hill. Thank goodness for ebikes. After coffees and hot chocolates, we were on our way again.

    A short distance further along we stopped alongside a lock for our picnic lunch. The baguettes and cakes were just as good as we had hoped they would be. It was a lovely way to spend time, just soaking up the amazing atmosphere.

     In a nearby location we stumbled upon a deserted lock keepers house. It was in a rundown state, but Maggie fell in love with what it could become in the right hands. It certainly was interesting to wander around inside and picture what life would have been like here when it was inhabited.

    At another lock we watched a Dutch couple manoeuvre their beautiful and quite huge boat through the gates. They explained that the boat was built in 1896 and was still fully original. When I asked the lady how she came be living on a boat, she simply answered “I met an idiot”. Enough said.

    We rolled into the beautiful hamlet of Clamecy about 2 pm, and found that our luggage had not arrived yet. That gave some time to explore the town before checking into the rooms.

    This had been one of the finest days of our entire trip. We now have only two cycling days left, before we say goodbye to our bikes for the final time.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 47

    Decize to Corbigny (90 km)

    3 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Our ride started at the hotel in Decize, but first we had to wait for our bikes to arrive. We were all a little nervous about what standard of bikes we would be supplied with. Would they be of the same great standard we had enjoyed on the previous 3 sections, or would they be rusty old clunkers ?

    Eventually a van arrived at around 9.30 am. The young driver introduced himself as Jean-Luc and then set about getting the bikes prepared for us. At the time we estimated JeanLuc to be around 29 years old. We were staggered to later discover that he was actually 51. I guess nature is kinder to some than others.

    When we finally had a chance to examine the bikes, we found them to be quality bikes by Velo de Ville. They were a bit more "tired" than our previous bikes but they proved to be the most popular of all the bikes we had ridden.

    After about an hour of setting up, we were finally ready to start the ride. There was some confusion as to how long the ride was going to be (varied between 45km and 85 km). We were a little concerned when we came to the conclusion that the ride would be closer to 90 km in total, To add to the fear factor, the weather also looked very threatening.
    The first part of the ride out of Decize was quite terrible. The road was narrow, and heavily trafficked by large speeding trucks. It was a big relief when we reached the Canal de Nivernais, and no longer had to ride in fear for our lives.

    Our ride then closely followed the Canal all day. Our first impressions were very favourable. The canal was narrow and regularly interspersed with numerous locks. It was quite amazing to learn that the construction of the canal began in 1784, and was not completed until 1840. It must have been a monumental engineering achievement at that time. The main purpose of the canal was to join the Loire and the Seine Rivers to allow timber rafts to be floated from the forests of Morvan all the way to Paris.

    Although we had expected the tow path to be rather rough, we were relieved to find that, for most of the ride, the path was really very smooth. This made for very pleasant riding.

    By 11.30 am we had ridden about 20 km and were looking for something to eat. We turned from the path at Cercy La Tour and finally found a boulangerie. We ate our lunches outside while the rain started. It was not a great omen, especially as at that stage we had no idea of how far we still had to ride.

    The weather deteriorated until we were all quite wet. This was only the second wet day we have had since we arrived in Europe 6 weeks ago, but we had no option other than to push on. The canal was punctuated by regular locks, each one with a small manager's cottage (It was the cottage that was small, not the manager).

    The ride went on. 45 km, 55 km, 65 km but Corbigny never seemed to get any closer. At one stage Maggie was excited when she saw an otter.

    By this stage we were all getting tired as it had been a long day. 70 km came and went. I estimated that we still had another 20 km to go, but was reluctant to share that information with the rest of the peloton.

    We then encountered a region where the canal dropped sharply in elevation, necessitating even more frequent locks. It was quite a spectacle. We were all quite surprised when we rode past one cottage which looked like it had become stuck in the mad days of the 1970s. They had even laid pieces of carpet on the road outside, along with lots of eclectic hippy paraphernalia.

    The final 10 km went on for about 20 km, so it was a quite a relief when we finally arrived in Corbigny. According to our speedos we had ridden around 90 km- an amazing achievement under the circumstances, especially for Maggie who was barely able to walk at the start of the day.

    Tomorrow is a much more modest ride of around 40 km.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 46

    Decize and the Canal de Nivernais

    2 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    After our brief sojourn in Dijon, it was time to move on to the fifth and final leg of our multi part European Ride - the ride along the Canal de Nivernais in Burgundy.

    After enjoying a lovely light breakfast at the Aparthotel in Dijon, we made the short walk back to the Gare de Dijon. Originally, we had thought that today's transfer to Dijon would have only involved a single train journey of around an hour. Unfortunately, the French railway people had chosen this time to undertake major works on the lines in this region. Instead of a simple, single train ride, we discovered that we would have to make a train ride and then two bus rides. This was not a prospect that we were looking forward to.

    At least the first part went according to plan. The train departed on time and it was only sparsely occupied. We even managed to find secure space for our luggage. It was only when the time came for us to get off the train that we almost encountered a real disaster.

    As we were getting off the train, we had to negotiate a series of steps and (most dangerous of all) a door handle that was specifically designed to catch on to any loose luggage strap that happened to be near. As I dismounted, I came close to being hooked, but managed to break free, Gordon was not so lucky.

    As he negotiated the steps, his backpack was ripped out of his grip and fell right down between the train and the platform, finally coming to rest near the massive train wheels. If that was not bad enough, Gordon then started to climb down onto the tracks in an attempt to retrieve it!

    "It's only a backpack", I yelled, "let it go". Gordon reluctantly climbed back onto the safety of the platform and looked forlornly down at his lost luggage. In the meantime, the incident had caught the attention of the station staff. They communicated with the driver by walkie talkie, and gave permission for the train to leave.

    Fortunately the train wheels narrowly missed the bag, and it was then safely retrieved by the station guard. Disaster was thus averted.

    While all this was happening, we were also conscious that another clock was ticking - the next bus was due to leave in only a couple of minutes. We charged from the station and climbed onto the first bus we saw. To our relief, it happened to be the right one.

    We then had a very comfortable bus ride to Le Cruisot, and waited for the final bus to arrive. By this time the day was really starting to heat up. The sun had a fierce sting to it, and we went in search of any shade we could find, while we waited for the second bus to arrive.

    The second bus did arrive on time, but we found that the inside was like a sauna. The driver did not seem to know how to turn the AC on. To compensate for the heat in the bus, the scenery outside was absolutely sublime. This is a beautiful part of France, and it was impossible not to be impressed.

    We finally rolled into Decize around 1.30 pm, but which time we were hot, hungry and thirsty. We also knew that the hotel was too far from the station to walk. What we didn't know was that the small city has NO TAXIS.

    About 400 m from the station we rolled our cases into a small Boulangerie, where the owners were obviously very glad to see us. They were even more glad when we ordered baguettes, soft drinks, coffees and cakes. When we explained that we wanted to get to our hotel, the (very) friendly lady said that her husband would drive us. And he did.

    Travel is often like that. Just when a problem arises, an unexpected solution arises soon after. It took two trips for the husband to transfer us and all our luggage, so it well worth the 50 Euro tip we offered him. Although he did not want money, we knew that he needed it, so it felt good to help him out. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

    Our hotel is right next to the beautiful marina, where we watched the big fish jumping out of the water while the sun set. That evening we dined outside, celebrating Maggie's birthday. It was an absolutely special end to an eventful day.    Läs mer

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  • The World on Two Wheels2023 Itzonagen European Ride
    Dag 45

    A Day in Dijon

    1 oktober 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The time had finally come for us to say a final goodbye to Konstanz. The problem was that the departure time was too early. Far too early. When your train to Zurich is scheduled to leave soon after 7 am, there was certainly no time for sleep ins or leisurely breakfasts.

    Since we were going to miss breakfast, the hotel compensated by making up a little "lunch bag" for each of us. The only problem with that is that it added to the copious amount of luggage we were already struggling to manhandle to the railway station.

    At least the train arrived (precisely) on time, and to our relief the carriage was only partially full. And so it should have been - after all it was 7 am on a Sunday morning.

    We enjoyed a comfortable trip back through the Swiss countryside to Zurich HBF (central station). That is where we faced the challenge of trying to find the correct platform for the train to Paris. With a complete absence of Information Offices and departure details, we were not even sure we were on the correct station.

    By some sequence of luck and good management we did manage to stumble into the Paris bound train. It was even more good fortune to discover that our carriage was almost empty. We even had enough space to sensibly store our luggage.

    Soon we were gliding silently out of the station and on our way to Dijon. The countryside outside was hiding under a thick fog, so we could not see very far. It was only when we reached the city of Basel that things changed dramatically. A huge crush of passengers clambered into our carriage, filling every empty seat. Luggage was jammed into anywhere available. This seems to be the recurring pattern in post Covid train travel.

    The driver managed to spur the motors into propelling the train at an eye watering 318 kph. That was quite an experience. Such was the speed of the train that we arrived in Dijon around midday.

    We stepped out of the train into 26C heat and bright sunshine. So much for all the winter clothing we had dragged all around Europe. Maggie and I had visited this city several times in the past and had very favourable memories of the place.

    We walked the short distance from the station to our hotel, and arrived to find the door securely locked. This was an Aparthotel, and checkin was not possible till 4 pm. That was a bit of a problem, until two other guests came out of the hotel, leaving the door ajar. We jumped at the unexpected turn of events, dragging our luggage into the foyer. And that is where it stayed while we spent the rest of the day exploring this historic city.

    Unlike the Germans who renovate every historic building, so that they look like they were built yesterday, the French are not afraid to let buildings age gracefully. Peeling paint and cracked timbers are a testimony to what each building has been through.    Läs mer

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